U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,837 discloses a connector for a fiber optic member which includes a ferrule in which the fiber optic member and protective jacket thereon is disposed with an exposed end of the fiber optic member extending along a front bore. Potting material is applied onto the exposed fiber optic member before or after the fiber optic member is inserted into the ferrule. The potting material begins to cure thereby partly retaining the fiber optic member in the ferrule while the crimping ring is crimped onto the ferrule which holds the parts in place while the potting material fully cures.
The use of potting material secures the fiber optic member in the ferrule, but it is messy, it is an extra step, and it takes time to cure. This is undesirable when terminations of fiber optic members need to be done at remote locations in the field and they need to be done quickly and easily.
An insert being positioned onto the buffer material covering the fiber optic member is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,447,121. The insert is placed in a ferrule and a crimping ferrule is crimped onto the ferrule which causes a fiber-engaging section of the insert to be reduced in diameter thereby secured onto the buffer material. This approach was effective for the buffer material in use at the time. The buffer material in current use is too soft and does not have the characteristics to enable an insert to be crimped thereon to effectively terminate an end of a fiber optic member.